Definition of Archive:
The traditional definition of archive draws from the Greek word “arkhe,” meaning both a beginning and a commanding. This root links archive, in the work of theorists such as Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, to the power structure of government. That is, archives are places separate from the public (at times accessible to them readily, at times not) where the choices of what to include are determined by those in power. These archival choices become both recorders of history as well as producers of it, as influenced by the motive of the choice (see Purpose/Purposing). This traditional view of archive is particularly focused on written texts, although certainly archives of film and photographs also exist. The common aspect of all of these traditional archives is their physical nature – the chosen items physically exist in a chosen place.
There are also personal archives that follow most of the same stipulations as formal archives, that is specifically chosen materials that exist in a specific place. The key deviation of these archives from traditional ones is that they are not created by societal power, and as such, they have been used in social history research to uncover history beyond what a formal archive has recorded. Informal archives are collections created by a person for his or her own use, either intimate use such as family history (a diary, personal papers) or more external use such as an academic research archive (collecting papers such as receipts, letters, etc from everyday use to examine for research). Working in the Archives: Practical Research Methods for Rhetoric and Composition offers great lessons in constructing and managing an academic archive.
Competing Definition of Archive:
The Internet is the competing definition. Rather than being a physical location for items selected for preservation by those in power, the Internet is a communal and individual archive accessible in ways far beyond traditional archives. The internet throws off the control by those in power while also blending public and private archives. The main differences in this definition of archive are:
The new media archive is created by everyday users.
The new media archive contains materials previously not included, such as cell phone videos, blogs and vlogs, and personal digital photos.
The new media archive can now be described as “mass archiving of the everyday” (Gane and Beer). That is, this archive is both communal and personal. For example, groups form the archive of Wikipedia, but individuals form the archives of their lives. However, much of this individual archiving is available through hyperlinks between the personal and communal.
Believers in traditional archives decry the lack of a gatekeeper to new media archiving, and here rest the competing notions. Traditional archives preserve (and play a hand in creating) history through careful choice. Individual/informal archives, in their pre-digital forms, were not widely available due to their physical nature. New media archives open the door to “new forms of popular memory which operate through the storage of everyday and quite ordinary phenomena” and are the responsibility of the users (Gane and Beer) while also being widely available through digital means. A possible “third way” is to study how traditional, informal, and new media archives enhance each other in the ultimate task of preserving a broad lens into civilization’s history.
Source:
Gane, Nicholas, and David Beer. New Media: The Key Concepts. Oxford: Berg, 2008. Print.
Ramsey, Alexis E., Wendy B. Sharer, Barbara L'Eplattenier, and Lisa S. Mastrangelo, eds. Working in the Archives: Practical Research Methods for Rhetoric and Composition, 1st Edition. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2009. Print.
The traditional definition of archive draws from the Greek word “arkhe,” meaning both a beginning and a commanding. This root links archive, in the work of theorists such as Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, to the power structure of government. That is, archives are places separate from the public (at times accessible to them readily, at times not) where the choices of what to include are determined by those in power. These archival choices become both recorders of history as well as producers of it, as influenced by the motive of the choice (see Purpose/Purposing). This traditional view of archive is particularly focused on written texts, although certainly archives of film and photographs also exist. The common aspect of all of these traditional archives is their physical nature – the chosen items physically exist in a chosen place.
There are also personal archives that follow most of the same stipulations as formal archives, that is specifically chosen materials that exist in a specific place. The key deviation of these archives from traditional ones is that they are not created by societal power, and as such, they have been used in social history research to uncover history beyond what a formal archive has recorded. Informal archives are collections created by a person for his or her own use, either intimate use such as family history (a diary, personal papers) or more external use such as an academic research archive (collecting papers such as receipts, letters, etc from everyday use to examine for research). Working in the Archives: Practical Research Methods for Rhetoric and Composition offers great lessons in constructing and managing an academic archive.
Competing Definition of Archive:
The Internet is the competing definition. Rather than being a physical location for items selected for preservation by those in power, the Internet is a communal and individual archive accessible in ways far beyond traditional archives. The internet throws off the control by those in power while also blending public and private archives. The main differences in this definition of archive are:
Believers in traditional archives decry the lack of a gatekeeper to new media archiving, and here rest the competing notions. Traditional archives preserve (and play a hand in creating) history through careful choice. Individual/informal archives, in their pre-digital forms, were not widely available due to their physical nature. New media archives open the door to “new forms of popular memory which operate through the storage of everyday and quite ordinary phenomena” and are the responsibility of the users (Gane and Beer) while also being widely available through digital means. A possible “third way” is to study how traditional, informal, and new media archives enhance each other in the ultimate task of preserving a broad lens into civilization’s history.
Source:
Gane, Nicholas, and David Beer. New Media: The Key Concepts. Oxford: Berg, 2008. Print.
Ramsey, Alexis E., Wendy B. Sharer, Barbara L'Eplattenier, and Lisa S. Mastrangelo, eds. Working in the Archives: Practical Research Methods for Rhetoric and Composition, 1st Edition. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2009. Print.